Words Strategize for the World

Faced with an encirclement of more than 300 people, the soldiers of the Hegemon Kingdom were not afraid to retreat, but instead were full of fighting spirit.

This small squad of the Hegemon army consisted entirely of infantry, equipped with swords and shields, making them sword and shield infantry. Therefore, their defense consisted of an outer shield wall surrounded by shields, inside which were menacing soldiers.

A wiry, strong man stood inside the shield wall and shouted, "You think you can kill us? Not so easy! You bunch of stray dogs, come on, fight if you want! The warriors of the Hegemon Kingdom are never afraid of battle!"

The strong man spoke with great courage, and Fang Hao guessed that the other party was probably the captain of this squad.

Hearing the Ba Kingdom commander's spirited words, Fang Hao understood why the Ba Kingdom army was the strongest.

War is essentially a contest between two nations. This contest encompasses politics, military affairs, culture, economics, and more. Beyond these national-level aspects, it also includes the individual level, such as a soldier's will, fighting prowess, courage, and skills.

Both of these aspects are indispensable.

From the fact that the Ba Kingdom's commander faced an enemy three times their size without fear and instead displayed high morale, Fang Hao knew that the Ba Kingdom's army must have an extremely strong will.

Even if we lose the battle, we shouldn't lose our spirit, especially when the enemy is three times stronger. This battle depends on how we fight; victory is assured, but minimizing losses is the best approach.

Before Fang Hao could speak, Yuan Kang said, "Hmph, still being stubborn even when death is imminent. We outnumber you three to one, and we're not afraid of fighting you. Just wait to die."

The chieftain of the Ba Kingdom stopped speaking and stood ready, waiting for Fang Hao and his men to attack.

A gentle breeze blew by, carrying with it the stench of blood. The villagers who had been slaughtered and died nearby must have died with their eyes wide open in anger. The Hegemonic army was so cruel that killing them all was not enough to quell their fury.

Seeing the enemy's high morale, Fang Hao decided to delay no longer. He wrote the character "dragon" in mid-air, and three breaths later, a golden dragon appeared, attacking the defensive shield wall of the Hegemon Kingdom.

Fang Hao did not stop but continued writing.

When Yuan Kang saw Fang Hao begin to write, he roared and prepared to take action.

Yuan Kang and his group of over 300 men had a very mixed and chaotic array of weapons, including guns, swords and shields, and archers; they were a combination of different types of soldiers.

Therefore, the chieftain of the hegemon state mistakenly believed that they were defeated deserters and homeless dogs.

Although they were a makeshift group, they were all elites of the Blazing Kingdom and were not afraid of battle.

When Ba Guofu saw Fang Hao writing in mid-air, he knew something was wrong. Then, seeing a golden serpent attacking, he shouted, "Hold your positions tight! Prepare to attack!"

The golden dragon quickly attacked the shield wall of the Hegemon Kingdom soldiers, and with a "boom," the shield wall tilted backward.

The shield wall appeared to be about to break, but it did not break under the command of the overlord and with the assistance of other soldiers.

In less than five breaths, the second golden dragon arrived, and soon the third one followed.

The golden dragons attacked one after another, finally opening a small breach in the shield wall of the Hegemon Kingdom.

As soon as a breach appeared in the shield wall on the Ba Kingdom's side, several screams were heard. It turned out that their archers, upon seeing the Ba Kingdom soldiers behind the small opening in the shield wall, had immediately fired arrows, killing several of them.

Yuan Kang, wielding his spear, led his men swiftly toward the small breach. As long as they continued to tear open the breach, the few dozen men from the Hegemon Kingdom would be no threat at all.

Fang Hao's pair of golden swords, under his conscious control, continuously slashed and killed enemies.

Fang Hao's golden sword, the archers' harassment, and Yuan Kang and others' vigorous attacks quickly tore a large hole in the shield wall of the Ba Kingdom.

Yuan Kang and his 300 men hated Ba Guo to the core, and seeing the large opening in the shield wall, they launched an even more frenzied attack.

Through everyone's combined efforts, the shield wall was finally broken.

The outcome is already decided.

With the outcome decided, Fang Hao stopped fighting and walked towards Lai Fengwu, preparing to help him treat the injured villagers.

Most of the villagers had been killed, and only a few survivors remained, trembling with fear.

Many people were injured; the final count was 13. Most of these injured villagers were critically injured and on the verge of death; only a few were saved.

Watching the wounded villagers writhe and groan in agony, Fang Hao felt a pang of sadness. Human life was cheap as dogs during wartime, and this was true in any era.

This is currently just a localized war between the Hegemon Kingdom and the Blazing Kingdom; if it escalates into a nationwide war, it will be even more terrifying.

While Fang Hao was deep in thought, the soldiers of the Hegemon Kingdom were slowly killed or wounded, and the shouts of battle gradually subsided.

Yuan Kang, covered in blood, came to Fang Hao's side and said, "My lord, the traitors of Ba Kingdom have all been killed, and they are cleaning up the battlefield."

"Okay, very good. Now let's tally up how many dead and injured we have. Also, go and call over those surviving villagers."

Having walked in the mountains for two or three days, Fang Hao now had no idea where he was or how far he was from Kyoto. Therefore, he wanted to find those villagers and ask them for clarification.

Several surviving villagers soon came to Fang Hao. Fang Hao was shocked to see that these villagers were all women, and they were all young and beautiful.

It's obvious to anyone with a brain what the purpose of the Hegemon Kingdom was in keeping these women. Unfortunately, all of the Hegemon Kingdom's soldiers have already died.

"Don't be afraid, we are the army of Liangjiang County of Chi Kingdom, and you are saved now."

Although all the soldiers of the Hegemon Kingdom had been killed, these seven women remained trembling with fear.

Looking at the seven trembling women, Fang Hao knew he wouldn't get anything out of them now, so he simply stopped asking and decided to wait until later that night.

With the soldiers of the Hegemon Kingdom eliminated, the rest is simple.

They cleaned up the battlefield, gathered dry rations, extinguished the fires in the smaller houses, and finally collected all the corpses and burned them.

After everything was settled, Fang Hao went to Yuan Kang to inquire about the casualties.

"What? 22 dead and 34 wounded? How was this battle fought?"

Fang Hao was shocked to hear Yuan Kang's words. In this battle, they had three times the enemy's strength but had suffered nearly two-tenths of their losses.

Fang Hao's words were extremely grating to Yuan Kang's ears; it wasn't his fault. But he still lowered his head because he was heartbroken over the deaths of so many brothers.

"My lord, I..."

Yuan Kang wanted to say something but couldn't. His brother's body was still warm, and he couldn't defend himself.

Judging from Yuan Kang's expression, Fang Hao roughly guessed that he was definitely somewhat dissatisfied.

Therefore, he didn't speak, but instead composed himself before pointing to the seven women sitting to one side and saying, "Look at these poor women, they are now destitute and helpless. What do you think I should do to take care of them?"

This question is baffling. We were just talking about casualties, and now the conversation has suddenly turned to arranging for seven women.

Yuan Kang, who was originally prepared to offer some explanation, immediately deflated, because he had no idea what Fang Hao meant.

"Yuan Kang is ignorant and does not know how the lord should arrange things for them."

Fang Hao didn't want to dampen Yuan Kang's enthusiasm, but he also had to give him some moral education because Yuan Kang had no idea that he was wrong.

If such a thing happened during a war, it would be an absolute catastrophe.